l she's cleared out."

"I have always stayed before till the crew were paid off; but no
sooner had we cast anchor than one of the owners came on board, and
told the captain that another cargo was ready, that the ship was to be
unloaded with all speed, and to take in cargo and sail again in a
fortnight at the utmost, as a fleet was on the point of sailing for
the West Indies under a strong convoy."

"A fortnight! That's sharp work," the old sailor said. "And the goods
will have to be bundled out and in again with double speed. I know
what it will be. You will be going out with the paint all wet, and
those lubbers the stevedores will rub it off as fast as it's put on.
Well, a few days at sea will shake all down into its place. But how
did you get leave?"

"I am rather a favorite with the first officer," the lad said. "The
men who desired to leave were to be discharged at once and a fresh
gang taken on board, so I asked him directly the news came round if I
might have four days away. He agreed at once, and I came down by the
night coach; and here I am for eight-and-forty hours."

"It's a short stay," the old sailor said, "after more than a year
away, but we mustn't waste the time in regretting it. You've grown,
Harry, and are getting on fast. In another couple of years you'll be
fit to join a king's ship. I suppose you've got over your silly idea
about sticking to the merchant service. It's all very well to learn
your business there as a boy, and I grant that in some things a
merchantman is a better school than a king's ship. They have fewer
hands, and each man has to do more and to learn to think for himself.
Still, after all, there's no place like a saucy frigate for excitement
and happiness."

"I don't know, dad," the boy said. "I have been learning a little
navigation. The first officer has been very kind to me, and I hope in
the course of two or three years to pass and get a berth as a third
mate. Still, I should like three or four years on board a man-of-war."

"I should think so," the old sailor said, "for a man ought to do his
duty to his country."

"But there are plenty of men to do their duty to their country," the
boy said.

"Not a bit of it!" the sailor exclaimed. "There's a great difficulty
in finding hands for the navy. Everyone wants to throw their duty upon
everyone else. They all hanker after the higher wages and loafing life
on board a merchantman, and hate to keep themselves smart and clean as